Adding a Custom Event to a PAF Family Group Record

If Personal Ancestral File Individual Edit screen does not contain and event you need, you can add it as a custom event.

Experienced genealogists recognize the advantages of seeing as many events as possible on a family group record. The default family group record printed by Personal Ancestral File (PAF) displays only five events for each individual: Born, Christened, Died, Buried, and Married. But PAF can accommodate far more events such as military service, or sold land. This article explains why and how to add a custom event to a PAF family group record.

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Value of Adding Custom Events to Family Group Records

When genealogists can see most of the known events in a person’s life they can guess where other events likely occurred. So a well-documented family group record is an important research tool for finding new evidence.

A good family group record with a variety of events is important to the analysis of the sources. It serves as a time-line against which you can compare information in newly discovered sources. As you compare sources you will find they either corroborate each other, or show discrepancies. This will help to judge their relevance and reliability.

Good researchers strive to be thorough in what they research and the sources they list. Thoroughness is the first element of the Genealogical Proof Standard.[1] A thorough listing of a variety of events helps researchers understand and track the family better. It demonstrates quality research. When all the events are listed and source-documented, other researchers can better understand our reasoning and conclusions.

In all these endeavors we are helped by well-documented family group records showing many kinds of events in each person's life.

Figure 1. Example of part of a family group record print showing added custom events.

When and What Events to Add

Add an event as soon as you find documentation for it. Add all events—the more the better. For example, add each census for each family member throughout their lives. Also include joining or leaving churches, confirmations, acquiring or sale of land, migrations, citizenship changes, jury duty, law suits, will probated, paid taxes, obituaries, mentioned in newspaper articles, new job, draft registration, military service, serving as a witness, bondsman, or godparent, working on the county road crew, jail, and warnings out. For all such events enter the date, place, cite your source, and give a brief preliminary evaluation of that source on the family group record.

How to Add a Custom Event to PAF

If an Edit Individual screen in PAF does not contain an event field that you need, you can add it as a custom event.[2] When you add a custom event, you can choose between a list of pre-defined custom events or add your own. You can print these custom events on your family group records and other forms.

Steps to add a custom event

TIP: You can add the same custom event as many times as needed to the same individual. For example, if an ancestor appears in more than one census, you could add a custom census event for 1880, and then add another for 1900, and another for 1910.